The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring by Richard Preston


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
One year my daughter spent most of her summer vacation climbing in and hanging out in one of the ash trees on our lot. I thought of her as I read this book. Only the people in this book climb up and hang out, do research in and get married on the Giant Redwoods in the temperate rain forest of northern California.
Reading the second chapter, I had to close the book and take several deep breaths. Just reading about people swinging around at 150 feet in the air (in this case, without any climbing equipment at all) set off my acrophobia. But I had to keep reading to see what happened next.
What was next was and is a story of the the surprises that were found lurking in the crowns of the trees. There is an immense variety of life happening up there, both the same and very different from the canopy of a tropical rain forest.
They needn't worry about me disturbing the ecology of the Redwood; I'm not climbing anything that doesn't have a guard rail, but it was a great book.

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